By Chung Min-uck

Beijing’s assertion that the Great Wall extended into an ancient Korean kingdom is without proof and has the purpose of giving a sense of unity to the 56 ethnic groups in China, local experts said Tuesday.

“The similarity between the Great Wall extension and the North East Project that ended in 2007 is that they both aim to solidify multi-ethnic China for national unity,” said Lee Seong-je, a researcher at the Northeast Asian History Foundation (NAHF), during an experts meeting hosted by the state-run research institute.

“It is wrong to link the fortifications of non-Chinese ancient civilizations to extend the length of the Great Wall,” said Nam Eui-hyeon, a professor at Kangwon National University.

“The research conducted by China is obvious that they tried to extend the length without thorough excavation,” said Lee Jong-su, a professor at Dankuk University.

According to Lee, the existence of historic fortifications in eastern part of the Liaoning Province, as Chinese experts’ claim is mere guesswork as there have never been any remains found in the area. China’s northeast province of Liaoning borders North Korea together with Jilin Province.

“It has the political intention of including Goguryeo and Balhae as part of their history,” Lee added.

Goguryeo and Balhae are ancient Korean kingdoms that are now located within northeastern part of China and Russia.

Experts here believe the newly prolonged length included fortifications built during the rule of the ancient kingdoms.

According to the NAHF, two out of over 43,000 remains Beijing insists to have found are likely to be from Goguryeo and Balhae.

The Chinese government refuses to give the original version of the latest archaeological survey results.

It is estimated that the wall now reaches to northeast provinces of Heilongjiang and Jilin, much further east than Hushan in Dandong which was defined as the wall’s eastern end in a preliminary study in 2009.

“What matters is that there is no system to stop the politicizing of Great Wall studies in China,” said professor Hong Seng-hyun of Sookmyong Women’s University.

China’s State Administration of Cultural Heritage, last week, announced the length of the Great Wall as 21,196.18 kilometers, more than double that from a study in 2009.

The Great Wall, in 2009, was estimated to be 8,850 kilometers.

However, experts, while denouncing China’s move of distorting Korean history for its national unity, said the case should be dealt with carefully as it can be understood as addition of the length of all fortifications in China, not an extension of the Great Wall.

Concerning the Korean government’s response, experts say it should first of all request the Chinese government to provide the original version of the survey.

“We should first know what’s really in the surveys,” said Lee. “After that we can think of a cooperative study with North Korea as it has border problems with China and also think of reaching out to the international community as the latest Chinese definition of the Great Wall is far from the terms listing it as a UNESCO World Heritage.”